Cartridge feeding means for automatic firearms



Aug? 22. 1950 J. KoUcKY 2,519,582

' CARTRIDGE FEEDING MEANS FoR AUTOMATIC FIREARMs Filed July 24, 1947 Patented Aug. 22, 195o UNITED STATES ICARTRIDGE FEEDING MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARIWS Josef Koucky, Prague, Czechoslovakia, assignor to Zbrojovka Brno Narodni Podnik (also named Brno Arms Factory, National Corporation),

Prague, Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia, a corporation of Application July 24, 1'947, Serial No. 763,365 In Germany March 8, 1943 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires March `8, 1963 The invention relates to automatic guns having a breechblock sliding in the barrel transversely to its axis, a breechblock carrier which moves longitudinally of the gun and in cooperating with said breechblock governs the same, and a cartridge feeding and cartridge case extracting device actuated by said breechblock carrier which device feeds cartridges from a cartridge belt into the barrel and returns spent cartridge cases therefrom back into said belt.

The known automatic guns of this type have many advantages and are unreliable especially when used at changing elevations for example whilefiring upon airplanes. This unreliability is mainly caused by the fact that the cartridge feeding device in those known guns is governed in cooperation with the fixed gun casing which at different elevations changes its relative position towards the other parts of the gun.

The present invention refers particularly to an improved cartridge feeding and cartridge case extracting device in automatic guns of the type described. Its main object is to eliminate the said and other disadvantages which will appear from the following description.

According to the invention an automatic gun of the type described is provided with a sliding support for the cartridge feeder and cartridge extractor which support cooperates with the breechblock carrier in such a marmer that said support slides freely along the breechblock carrier during the locking and unlocking movement of the breechblock whereas during the latters remaining recoil and returning movement it is coupled to the said carrier.

The invention and its objects will be best understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawing in which one embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawing Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section of the relevant parts of the gun immediately after firing when the respective parts of the gun start to recoil, and

Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the relevant parts of the gun in the final stage of said recoil movement.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

A As illustrated in the drawing the automatic gun comprises a barrel 2 mounted in a gun casing l. lBehind the ring chamber 3 of the barrel 2 is the breechblock 4 which slides in a perpendicular direction to the axis of the barrel n-a'suitable slot arranged therein. `The breechblock 4, which houses the firing pin, is U-shaped and its downward directed arms embrace the breechblock carrier 5 which is movable in a longitudinal direction and governs, upon its recoil and its following return movement respectively, the vertical opening and closing movement of the breechblock 4. This vertical movement of the breechblock 4 is effected by rollers or similar guiding means 6 moving in suitable crooked guiding grooves l arranged on the lateral faces of said breechblock carrier 5. It will be easily understood that breechblock 4 is held in cooking position while the rollers 6 slide in the horizontal right end of said guiding grooves (Fig. l), that the breechblock 4 is removed from or reintroduced into the barrel 2 while said rollers 6 or the like slide up or down respectively in the inclined middle part of the grooves l, and that the breechblock 4 will remain in unblocking position while said rollers 6 or the like slide in the horizontal left part of said grooves l (Fig 2). The longitudinal movement of the breech-block carrier 5 is effected in a manner known per se by the action of a part of the expanding gases evolving in the barrel after ring the cartridge 9 whereupon the said carrier 5 recoils from the position shown in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Fig. 2. The return movement is effected by the recoil spring 8.

The cartridges are introduced into the gun in a knownV manner by a cartridge belt l0. The present invention refers particularly to the device by which the cartridges S are moved from said cartridge belt l0 into the iiring chamber 3 of the barrel 2 and the spent cartridge cases 9 returned therefrom back into the belt I0. This device comprises as principal member a sliding block or other support I l which during a certain part of the movement of the breechblock carrier 5 slides freely along the same, and which during the remaining part of the breechblock carrier movement is coupled thereto and partakes in its longitudinal movement. The said sliding block or support ll sustains the cartridge extractor 22 and cartridge feeder or injector 21 both of which are swingable about the pivot 23 and are pressed upward by the springs 24 and 28 respectively arranged in said support l'l While after firing the breechblock carrier 5 starts to recoil from' the position shown in Fig. 1 the sliding block or support Il is permitted to glide freely in the groove l2 of said carrier 5 until it reaches the left end l 3 of said groove I2, or any other suitable stop arranged thereon. During that period the roller or the like 6 passes the inclined portion of the guiding grooves 1 until it reaches the adjoining horizontal part thereof and effects the unblocking of the breechblock 4 into the position shown in Fig. 2. While thereafter the breechblock carri-er continues to recoil the sliding block or support II is coupled thereto and participates in its backward movement into the position shown in Fig. 2. This coupling is effected by the latch or pawlV I4. which is arranged in the evisceration I5 of the carrier 5 and is mounted upon the pivotv It. As soon as the sliding head I of the latch I4 leaves the ,guiding surface 2U the latch I4 is pressed upward by the spring 2l against the sliding biock II and the cog or other projection l1 on said latch I4 engages the recess I8 arranged on the gliding surface of the sliding block Il thereby coupling the same to the carrier 5 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Having now described the principal parts of the gun it will be easy to understand the. following description of its operation.

At the moment of firing (Fig. 1) the projectile starts down the tube and the expanding gases effect the recoil movement of the breechblock carrier 5. The rollers or the like B leave the right horizontal part of the .guiding grooves 1 arranged on both lateral sides of the carrier 5 and slide upwards in the inclined middle portion of said grooves l thereby effecting the unblocking of the breechblock 4 into the position shown in Fig. 2. Meanwhile the sliding block 5 slides freely in the guiding groove l2 arranged in carrier 5 until it is stopped in its relative movement by the left end I3 of said groove I2 and is forced to share thereafter the recoil movement of the carrier 5. Thereupon the latch head I8 leaves the guiding surface 20 arranged on the lower side of' the barrel 2 or on any other fixed part of the gun and the latch I 4 itself is pressed upward into the recess I8. of the sliding block I I` by the spring 2i into the .position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 thereby coupling the sliding block II to the breechblock carrier 5. In this coupled position the carrier 5 and sliding block Il move to the position shown in Fig. 2 and again back until the latch head I9 reaches the edge of the guiding surface 20, which forces the latch I2 back into the evisceration I5 and disengages it from the sliding block I I. At that moment the sliding block II reaches its starting position shown in Fig. l, the breechblock carrier 5 is in the position shown in dotted lines in said figure and said carrier 5 continues to, slide beneath the sliding block II- into its start ing position shown in Fig. 1.

During the backward and forward movement of the breechblock carrier 5, as above described, the cartridge extractor Z2 moves the spent car tridge case 9 from the firing chamber 3 into the cartridge belt IQ and thecartridge feeder or injector 21 introduces a new cartridge from .said belt I c into the firing chamber 3.

As the breechbloek Il is being unblocked i. e. moved upward the spring 28 turns the ycartridge injector 21 from the position shown in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Fig..2 in which position it seizes on its wa-y back one cartridge in the belt It and introduces the same into the iiring chamber 3. Following thereto the said injector 21 is again pressed down into .its starting position by the breechblock l while Athe same returns into its blocking position shown in Fig.. 1. Contemporaneously with the cartridge injector 21 acts also the cartridge` extractor v22. dur- 4 ing the recoil and return movement of the breechblock carrier 5. 'Ihecartridge extractor 22 is4 provided at its iront end with a hook, claw or other seizing member for engaging the cartridge case 9 at their rim or rear end as shown in Fig. 1. As soon as the sliding block II starts to partake the recoil movement of carrier 5 the cartridge case 9 is transported backward into the cartridge belt IB. The release of the cartridge case 9 from the extractor 22 may be effected in many different ways. According to Fig. l the said extractor 22 may be provided with a projection or other guiding member 25 which slides along the guide surface 26 until it reaches a buckling or knee therein which presses the guiding member 25 downward and turns the extractor 22 thereby disengaging the cartridge case 9. In another embodiment shown in Fig. 2 the extractor 22 may be provided with an extension 25 whose free end cooperates with a sloping stop which effects a turning of the extractor 2-2 and thus again its disengagement from the cartridge case s. On its return way the extractor 22 engages the new cartridge Smoved forward by the feeder 21 and remains in such engagement until the starting position shown in Fig. l is reached whereupon the described cycle of operation is repeated.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other embodiments which come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. In .an automatic gun having a casing, a barrel mounted therein, a breechblock transversely' sliding in said barrel, a recoilngr breech block carrier mounted for movement longitudinally of the gun and adapted to govern the breechbloek movement, and means for feeding cartridges from a cartridge belt into the barrel and for extracting spent cartridge cases from the barrel, said means comprising a sliding support for the cartridge feeder and cartridge case ex.- tractor arranged between the breech'block and its carrier and cooperating with the latter, stopping means for limiting the sliding movement of said sliding support along the carrier to the period of the transversal breechblock displacef ment thus permitting said sliding support to stand' still during said period, and coupling means linking said sliding support to the said breechblock carrier during the latters remaining longitudinal movement, thus forcing the said support to partake in such movement of the carrier.

2. In an automatic gun having a casing, a barrel mounted therein, a breechblock transversely sliding in said barrel, a recoiling breechblock carrier mounted for movement longitudinally of the gun and adapted to govern the breechblock movement, and means for feeding cartridges from a cartridge belt into the barrel and for extracting spent cartridge cases from the barrel, said means comprising a sliding support for the cartridge feeder and cartridge case extractor arranged between the breechblock and its carrier and cooperating with the latter, a guiding groove in said carrier for said support, the length of said groove approximating the length of the path transversed by the breechblock carrier during the unblocking movement of the breechblock, a stop at the forward end of said groove cooperating with the sliding support, and coupling means linking said sliding support to the breechblock carrier during the latters re maining longitudinal movement thus forcing said support to partake in the carriers recoil and return movement.

3. An automatic gun according to claim 1 wherein the coupling means linking the sliding support to the breechblock carrier comprise a spring-loaded latch'cooperating with a recess arranged in said support, said latch being mounted in the breechblock carrier, and means to disengage said latch from said support as soon as a cartridge has been introduced into the barrel.

4. An automatic gun according to claim 1 wherein the coupling means linking the sliding support to the breechblock carrier comprise a spring-loaded latch cooperating with a recess arranged in said support, and a controlling member arranged on said latch said controlling member cooperating with a xed part of the gun and disengaging said latch from said support as soon as a cartridge has been introduced into the barrel. 5. An automatic gun according to claim 1 wherein the cartridge feeder is comprised of a spring-loaded lever mounted upon the sliding support, the disengagement of said feeder from the cartridge introduced into the barrel being effected by the downward moving breechblock.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,525,066 Browning Feb. 3, 19'25 1,805,601 Ross May 19, 1931 2,365,459 Dobremysl Dec. 19, 1944 

